Darlington school St Aidan’s Church of England Academy rated as 'inadequate'

Following a visit to St Aidan’s Church of England Academy, in Hundens Lane, in early October the inspection team found the school has “serious weaknesses”.

St Aidan’s was set up in 2007, to replace the failing Eastbourne Comprehensive School and is now housed in a £16m campus.

While exam results have improved in recent years the school was warned by Ofsted last year it must improve.

In October an unsigned protest letter from teachers and support staff at the school declaring their “profound lack of confidence” in the school’s leaders was sent to governors and The Northern Echo.

Ofsted inspectors said while its leadership and management requires improvement, the behaviour and safety of pupils, quality of teaching and achievement of pupils is inadequate.

They concluded the quality of teaching and students’ achievement have declined since the previous inspection in January 2013.

In 2014, “too few students achieved the minimum expectations for attainment and progress set by the Government.”

The report notes that by the end of Year 11 “attainment in many subjects is low” and progress between Years 7 and 11 is inadequate in maths and requires improvement in English.

Inspectors also found that “teachers expectations of what students are capable of achieving are too low” and teaching does not always motivate or challenge students.

“Some students become disinterested in lessons; their persistent low-level disruptive behaviour hinders the progress of others”.

The inspection team also found that “a significant minority of students show a lack of respect for teachers and for each other, and a lack of self-discipline.”

Attendance was “consistently below average” with too many students regularly absent.

The Ofsted team also remarked that “a large majority” of parents who responded to an online questionnaire lack confidence in what the academy is doing to promote their children’s learning.

On the plus side the inspectors said the principal, supported by the governors is “leading academy improvement strongly” and has taken “decisive action” to deal with weaknesses in teaching.

The inspectors also say that students feel safe and well cared for and the majority of students now behave in a “calm and orderly manner”.

Responding to the report, Catherine McCoy, principal of the academy said: “I think this is a very fair report, acknowledging the pathway that we are travelling and the various challenges we face.”

“Ofsted have endorsed our action in bringing in external experts to accelerate improvements in some areas and these, along with the changes we have made in structures and practice are now starting to impact teaching and outcomes across the academy.”

Ms McCoy pointed that that 52 per cent of students achieved an A*-C grade in both GCSE English and maths, which were the best ever results.

“While Ofsted have recognised the improvements in English, maths still remains a challenge, but positive improvements are being seen already with the impact of the new team we now have in place.”

The Revd Canon Sheila Bamber, chair of governors, said: “This report does make difficult reading and no one is in any doubt about the seriousness of the shortcomings and what we must do to turn things around.”